Bay Area squirrels are killing and decapitating en masse, study finds

[hunter]

In June 2024, Jennifer E. Smith of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire received a disturbing report from her research team conducting fieldwork at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County. It’s a sprawling expanse of grasslands and oak woodlands known for scenic trails, views of Mount Diablo and a thriving bird-watching scene. However, Smith’s students had documented something far more unsettling than a rare bird or damage on a trail: an unsettling description of a California ground squirrel actively hunting, killing and ripping apart the bodies of tiny California voles.

“At first, we questioned what was going on,” Smith says. “But seeing the videos was astounding and shifted my perspective on a species that I have spent the last 12 years of my life studying.”

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https://www.sfgate.com/california-parks/article/squirrels-predators-bay-area-park-19988436.php

I remember ground squirrel researchers speaking of similar behaviors fifty years ago, and I've witnessed these behaviors myself. Maybe it never made it to the formal literature.

Ground squirrels are not cute and cuddly. They are also reservoirs for fleas and the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis.

If they are killing voles it seems likely they are killing gophers too.

[Initech]

1. If there's not a ska band tomorrow called Squirrel Zombie Killers...

I will have lost all faith in the internet!

[stopdiggin]

4. nah. rasta too smoooth ...

now post punk (with a little whimsy) - just might get you there!

[Sneederbunk]

2. One rodent killing another rodent in a dog eat dog world.

[hlthe2b]

3. Voles are very small (3-5inches long and about 20 grams), while gophers are 6-10 inches & 300-500 grams

So, no. I don't see them moving to Gophers.

Yes, ground squirrels in areas with plague circulating can be infected. But like the prairie dogs that are more likely to be the unfortunate vector (and which die off quickly) a healthy colony that has not had die-offs suggesting plague circulating in recent years, is not a threat (or an excuse to exterminate). The same goes for ground squirrels in the absence of confirmed plague. Die-offs of ground squirrels, like wild rabbits are far more likely to be the result of cyclical Tularemia.

Let the wild be wild and live and let live...and only well-trained rehab personnel or veterinarians with wildlife experience handle these animals. They are not meant to be pets.

[2naSalit]

5. The ground squirrels...

That live around here are cannibals. If there's a dead one on the road, it's 50/50 as to whether a raptor os another squirrel will eat it first. Nasty little buggers, even if they do look kind of cute for the first 30 seconds.